state general fund Archives • Alabama Political Reporter

Sen. Doug Jones argues for passage of SAME Act

Sen. Doug Jones, D-Alabama, spoke on the floor of the U.S. Senate this week in an attempt to secure passage of the States Achieve Medicaid Expansion Act, a bill that would incentivize states like Alabama to expand Medicaid by restoring 100-percent federal reimbursements for the first three years. Jones’ push to bring in additional federal … Continued

July 31, 2020

Legislature told budgets are in good shape despite pandemic and economic downturn

Members of the Alabama Senate were in Montgomery Thursday for hearings on the budget, where Senators were told that both of the budgets are in good shape looking forward to 2021. The meeting was chaired by Senate Finance & Taxation Committee Chairman Greg Albritton. Kirk Fulford is the Deputy Director for the Fiscal Division of … Continued

July 13, 2020

Ward says new revenue is needed to reduce the court backlog

The Alabama Political Reporter on Thursday spoke with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Cam Ward, R-Alabaster, about how the state can address the backlog of judicial cases in the Alabama court system. Ward said that the backlog for the courts is due to legislators being unwilling to find sufficient revenue for the state general fund. Anybody … Continued

May 22, 2020

Governor to sign record education budget

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a statement Thursday announcing that she intends to sign the state education trust fund budget. Ivey also announced that she was signing the state general fund budget and amending SB161, the FY 2020 General Fund supplemental appropriations bill that would appropriate federal CARES Act funds. “This afternoon, I sent a … Continued

May 18, 2020

House speaker predicts there will be a special session

The legislature wrapped up its business for the 2020 regular legislative session Saturday, but Speaker of the House Mac McCutcheon, R-Monrovia, predicted that there would be a special session. “Yes, there will be a special session. There are a lot of needs that will come forth,” McCutcheon said when asked by reporters. A key issue … Continued

May 13, 2020

Marsh says governor asked for wish list

Senate President Del Marsh, R-Anniston, told reporters Saturday that the governor’s office asked the leadership to prepare the “wish list” that Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey released last week when she denounced legislators for trying to seize control of $1.8 billion into CARES Act funding Congress appropriated to the state to fight the spread of the … Continued

May 11, 2020

Legislature passes largest education budget in state history despite COVID-19 economic crisis

Saturday the Alabama State Senate approves the largest education budget in the history of the state. The budget was passed that morning with a bipartisan 31 to 0 vote just two days after the Alabama House of Representatives passed the budget. The Senate did make minor changes to the House budget, but the House voted … Continued

May 11, 2020

Clouse urges governor not to veto budget

The Alabama House of Representatives on Thursday, passed the State General Fund (SGF) budget; but there is worry that Gov. Kay Ivey (R) may veto the budget, Senate Bill 157. State Representative Steve Clouse, R-Ozark, who chairs the House Ways and Means General Fund Committee and carried the budget on the House floor urged Gov. … Continued

May 9, 2020

State Rep. Kerry Rich: “We are not going to be in proration”

Amid a growing economic collapse due to the forced economic shutdown to deal with the coronavirus crisis, the Alabama House of Representatives met to pass the state’s Education Trust Fund budget Thursday. State Rep. Kerry Rich, R-Albertville, addressed the fear that the economic crisis could negatively impact Alabama’s schools. “We are not going to be … Continued

May 9, 2020